In Memoriam

I just wanted to take a moment of silence to remember those who lost their lives during one of Virginia Tech's most tragic days two years ago on this date.

Please take time to read the biographies of our 32 fallen Hokies here.

When I read these biographies, all I could think was how sad, senseless and selfish an action it was that took away someone's father, brother, sister, cousin, friend, classmate, etc.

My thoughts and prayers continue to go out to those who have been affected.

We will always remember. WE ARE VIRGINIA TECH!

And the Blended Beauty winner is......

Congratulations to Jess! She is now the lucky owner of 3 Blended Beauty products of her choice. Congrats again and hope you enjoy your products.

I chose my winner a little bit more technologically advanced than last time. I made a numbered list of everyone's name and used a random number generator to choose a number which in turn was my winner.

Huuurcuut!

I did end up getting my haircut yesterday but, didn't go for the short cut. The picture I showed the hair stylist was a picture of someone with long hair, long layers and shorter layers in the front. I just couldn't part with the hair. On the same page of the haircut I liked was a picture of a really short cut and the stylist thought at first that was the cut that I wanted. She said in her head she was like uh oh she's gonna chop of all that hair.

The stylist did a wet cut as opposed to the dry curly cut. I told her I do style my hair different ways and want that option to switch between curly, wavy and straight styles. It didn't look like she took off that much but, my hair feels different when I run my hands through it. My boyfriend was able to tell a difference.

I'll post up pics of it wavy the next time I fix my hair.

Yes, yes I know the angry face again but, it's the only decent hair shot I could take. I should have taken a picture of the back so you could see more of the layering.

Now is the time to get Curl Junkie Products and Possible Haircuts

If you've been wanting to try Curl Junkie products but, didn't want to spend a whole lot on shipping, Curl Junkie is currently doing a $5 USPS Priority mail/$6 UPS Ground flat rate shipping special on all orders. Don't forget to check out all the goodies on sale under the "sales & trial set" link.

I may possibly be getting my haircut soon. I probably won't be getting a "curly haircut". This will be a good experiment. I know there have been a couple questions about whether or not a "straight haircut" would look just as good once you styled your hair curly. I'll be finding out the question to this soon. When I go to the hair salon, I'll probably go there with my hair curly, which I don't usually do, and mention that I'm trying to wear my hair curly more often.

I'm really contemplating bangs and a haircut because it's almost my birthday (I usually like to get my haircut near my birthday), it's been a while since I got a cut, and because these two pictures influenced me.

The first picture is a wig sold by a Japanese company called Mod's Hair. You can read more about this on Jillipoo's blog. I don't think I would get my hair cut as short as the wig but, I just thought it was a cute cut and I liked the bangs.

The second picture is of course Rihanna who I love so this may be making me biased towards the haircut. I showed one of my friends though and she liked it a lot too. This cut isn't too too short but, will still be taking a lot of length off my current hair length. And even if I ended up liking the cut a whole lot, I'd probably still regret it. I have a weird attachment to my hair when it comes to change. I always like getting my hair done but, at the same time I usually end up regretting changes other than minor ones.

I'm planning on getting it cut either this weekend or my birthday next week.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and wonderful Easter!

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Contest is now closed. Winner will be announced shortly. Thanks to all who participated.

Blended Beauty

The nice folks at Blended Beauty have graciously donated any 3 items that one of you fine readers will pick from their website http://blendedbeauty.com/.

Blended Beauty hair care products were designed specifically for the needs of those with dry, wavy, curly, kinky, and relaxed or heat-straightened hair.

Their main goal is to provide superior quality products that beautify the look of the hair but also nourish the hair from the inside out, promoting healthy growth and diminishing breakage. All our products are formulated with naturally derived ingredients and are between 98%-99% natural.

Their mission is to encourage those with curly hair, to realize its beauty and embrace it. Whatever your hair type is, you can wear it natural and love it. Chemicals, petroleum, mineral oil, and relaxing can be a thing of the past, on a Blended Beauty regimen. Our suggestions for promoting great hair have been laid out on the hair tips page for the benefit of our customers.

Some of the natural hair care ingredients included in their products are Shea Butter, Chamomile, Horsetail/Shave Grass, Marshmallow Root, Aloe Vera, Sunflower Oil, Volcanic Clay, Vegetable Glycerin, Seaweed, Grape Seed Oil, Avocado Oil, Witch Hazel, Keratin, Silk Protein, Soy Lecithin, and Rosemary Extract. Blended Beauty will always remain paraben-free.

For those of you following the Curly Girl Method, their products are Curly Girl Method approved.

Go ahead and check out their site. Pick out the three products you would want to win because you just might get lucky. There are also before & after pictures, demo videos and hair tips on the site.

Contest rules:
1. Any reader that posts a comment AND sends me an email is automatically entered to win. The only reason I ask you to also send me an email is because it is easier for me to contact you when I pick a winner. Most people are not comfortable leaving their email address on a comment which is entirely understandable. You don't have to write a fancy long email. Just put Blended Beauty giveaway on the subject line and then your name that you used to leave a comment. My email address is mamendoz@gmail.com.
2. Winner will be chosen randomly.
3. Contest ends at 12:00 PM EST on Wednesday, April 15, 2009.

Curl Junkie + Mixed Chicks

I had ordered March 2009's Pretty Pink Box with my main motivation being the Curl Junkie products. When I received it, I didn't have any Curl Junkie products. I wasn't sure if I was missing them or if that was just the way products were distributed among the boxes. I asked Linda, who operates Pretty Pink Box, and she replied that she usually tries to distribute the products evenly among the boxes but, each box is different. She kindly offered to check if she had an extra Curl Junkie products, which she did, and sent them to me.



On the same day I received the Curl Junkie products, I received a package from Mixed Chicks. They had sent me a box full of samples of shampoo, deep conditioner and leave-in conditioner to review.

For my first experiment, I tried Curl Junkie Curl Assurance Gentle Cleansing shampoo then conditioned with Curl Junkie Curl Theory Moisturizing Hair conditioner. The cleansing shampoo lathered up more than most sulfate-free shampoos which was a plus because sometimes I do miss the suds. The moisturizing hair conditioner was light but still moisturizing. I knew my hair was going to squish when I applied products after my shower.

The only product I used after my shower was the Mixed Chicks leave-in conditioner. I didn't use any other gel, creme or mousse with it and was happy about the results. It gave me pretty good clumping and hold without any crunchiness. It was so easy to only have to apply one product too. My hair was still slightly wet when I took these pictures.
My second experiment was with the Mixed Chicks shampoo, deep conditioner, and leave-in conditioner. This shampoo does contain a sulfate so I was expecting the suds. The deep conditioner was very moisturizing also but, I would use it solely as a deep conditioner not as a rinse-out conditioner. I'm really liking this routine of only having to scrunch in one product after my shower. Once again I used only the leave-in conditioner and no other products.
My hair is completely dry in these pictures. I don't like the way my hair looks as it's drying but, I'm too lazy or don't have enough time to diffuse my hair and would rather let it air dry.

Ingredients for Curl Junkie Curl Assurance Gentle Cleansing Shampoo:
Water, Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate, CocamidopropylBetaine, Sodium Lauryl Glucose Carboxylate, Glycerin, Lauryl Glucoside, PE G-150 Pentaerythrityl tetrastearate, PE G-6 Capric/Caprylic Glycerides, Laureth 4,Hydroxypropyltrimonium Honey, Panthenol, Matricaria Recuitita (Chamomile) Flower Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract, Sambucus Nigra (Elder) Flower Water, Quaternium-79 Hydrolyzed Silk Protein, Sodium Chloride (Dead Sea Salt), Anthemis Nobilis (Chamomile) Oil, Citrus Aurantium (Neroli) Oil, Citrus Aurantium (Petitgrain) Oil, Brown Rice (Oryza Sativa) Powder, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Disodium EDTA ,Tocopheryl Acetate.

Ingredients for Curl Junkie Curl Theory Moisturizing Hair Conditioner:
Water, Cetearyl Alcohol*, Glycerin, Behentrimonium Methosulfate*, Glyceryl Stearate*, Panthenol, Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Kernel Oil, Brassica Oleracea Italica (Broccoli) Seed Oil, Hydroxypropyltrimonium Honey, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Matricaria Recuitita (Chamomile) Flower Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract, Sambucus Nigra (Elder) Flower Water, Hydrolyzed Wheat Starch, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Fragrance, Tocopheryl Acetate, Citric Acid, Tetrasodium EDTA. *Vegetable derived

Ingredients for Mixed Chicks Shampoo:
Water, Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate, Tea Lauryl Sulfate, Cocamide MEA, Glycol Disterate, Panthenol, Avocado Oil, Silk Amino Acids, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Ginger (Zinglber Officinale) Extract, Malvasylvestris (Mallow) Extract, Borage (Borago Officinalis) Seed Oil, Cinnmidopropyl Trimonium Chloride, Polyqatermium 10, Allantoin, Citric Acid, Tetrasodium EDTA, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Chloride, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance, FD&C Yellow #5, FD&C Yellow #6.

Ingredients for Mixed Chicks Deep Conditioner:
Water, Cetearyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Chloride, Glycerin, Amodimethicone, Cetyl Alcohol, Dicetyldimonium Chloride, Octamethylcylotetraxiloxane, Safflower Oil, Cetrimonium Chloride, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate and C14-18 Perfluoroalkyethyl Thiohydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride and Benzoic Acid and Glycereth - 2 Cocoate, Sodium Benzoate, Sodium Chloride, Fragrance

Ingredients for Mixed Chicks Leave-in Conditioner:
Water, glycerin, Amodimethicone, emulsifying wax, hydrolyzed wheat protein,/pvp crosspolymer, methylgluceth-20, hydroxypropyl trimonium choloride, octyl methoxycinnamate, hydroxyethyl celloluse, jojoba oil, safflower oil, primrose oil, wheat amino acid, crosilk, hydrolyzed collagen (marine), phenoxyethanel, methylparaben, proplyparaben, butylparaben, FD&C red #40, FD&C yellow #5, fragrance

You can order Mixed Chicks products from http://mixedchicks.net/ (make sure you go to .net NOT .com. Dot com will take you to a much more different website) or from http://www.curlmart.com/

I liked all of the Curl Junkie and Mixed Chicks products that I tried but, the Mixed Chicks leave-in conditioner takes the cake for me (you know I had to throw in a food reference). I like how it's like a curl creme that encourages clumping and gel all in one but without the crunchiness. Both of the Curl Junkie products listed above do NOT contain silicones or harsh sulfates for those following the Curly Girl Method. The Mixed Chicks Shampoo is NOT sulfate-free. Both the Mixed Chicks deep and leave-in conditioner contain Amodimethicone which is a slightly soluble silicone that some have found a cowash can remove.

All the products had subtle fragrances. I remember liking them but, can't remember exactly what they smelled like. When I get a chance I'll have to take a whiff of all these again and edit this post.

I think it's time for a haircut too. I can tell my ends are getting a bit stringy.

P.S. I finally ran 5 miles yesterday and was only in a slight bit of pain so I was happy about that. I bought some of those shock absorber insoles which seemed to help. I'm still waiting on my Kinesio tape. I've been taking a break from running for the past couple of weeks so it felt really good to finally run almost pain-free.

Carol's Daughter - Straight Version

Just as I suspected, Carol's Daughter products worked well with heat styling tools. I shampooed with Giovanni Invigorating Tea Tree shampoo (I meant to cowash instead but forgot) and conditioned with Carol's Daughter Tui Hair Smoothie. I used Tresemme Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Protective Spray and Carol's Daughter Hair Milk. I blow dried with a round brush and used a big curling iron to straighten it a bit more. I was going to add Carol's Daughter Lisa's Hair Elixir but, found I didn't need any more moisture after I was done. In fact, I think I may have added too much hair milk. Once again, a little goes a long way. My hair did not feel dry after and looked smoother than it usually did when I would straighten it.
The first picture is a weird angle but, it was the only way I could really get a shot of my layers.